Self-touted as the world’s first “neighborhood clinic and smartphone-based healthcare delivery system,” ZoomCare successfully leveraged its mobile online scheduler feature-an industry first-to take the burgeoning concept of on-demand healthcare to unprecedented levels of brand differentiation and consumer loyalty in the Pacific Northwest. To wit: ZoomCare, a Portland, OR-area urgent care operator, was hard at work reinventing the incumbent model via its comprehensive integration of mobile technology throughout its patient service model. Over the last decade, the urgent care model thus gained momentum, spread like wildfire, and became the darling of physician entrepreneurs, hospital systems, venture capitalists, and private equity firms looking to cash in on the “next big thing” in healthcare.īut within the still-novel urgent care space, further innovation was occurring.

The outdated access paradigm of long waits for primary care appointment and lengthy, expensive ED visits was under siege, and would give ground to “urgent care,” which promised shorter wait times, extended hours, lower prices, and a retail-like customer service orientation. The rise of “urgent” care has put healthcare delivery on notice: A new, disruptive model, born of consumer frustration and standing as a viable alternative for minor medical episodes. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM-The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America, and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Experity. As Zoom+ refocuses the future of urgent care around the needs of its community, there is much that other urgent care operators can learn in attaining revenue growth from a “maturing” business model.Īlan A. In the past year, ZoomCare has evolved further to create Zoom+, integrating urgent care with insurance, primary care, wellness, specialists, and ancillary services.

URGENT MESSAGE: Zoom+, which operates 28 walk-in clinics in the Pacific Northwest, has long been a technological innovator, launching web registration, scheduling, and telemedicine in its markets.

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